An introductory overview to Boolean searching, using operators and selecting key words. Specific examples of Sparks Group sites we use to effective search and source candidates. Presented by Emily Burnaman, Staff Development Coordinator. Visit https://www.sparksgroupinc.com for more information.

1. Basic Boolean Searching
and Selecting Key Words

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4. –
• Created and presented by in his first book,
in .
• Boolean is still widely used today as a fundamental logic in digital
computing.
• Most modern programming languages and statistical software use
boolean logic!
Fun Facts!

5. Boolean Searching
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6. What information
can you use in a boolean?
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7. Operators
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8. Operators
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9. Operators
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10. Selecting Key Words
 We recommend starting your search by
reading through the entire job description.
 Focus on the verbiage,
of the position.
 Boolean is creative! Make note of reoccurring
themes, related phrases and other
synonymous terms.
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11. Putting Key Words Together
 We recommend breaking your search down
into segments, specifications, key areas of a
job description.
 Segments can be focused around titles,
tasks, traits, skills, degrees, dates, etc.
 By separating and adding similar
we can start piecing
together our search string criteria!
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12. “
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13. Focus on Keywords!
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14. Basic Boolean Operators
AND “DOUBLE QUOTES”
OR (PARENTHESIS)
NOT *ASTERIX*
W/ (NEAR)

15. AND
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• Only returns resumes that absolutely have
these specified words/phrases.
Terms can appear anywhere on the resume.
• Examples for erecruit:
 customer service rep*
 CSS* HTML* Java*
Javascript* develop*
 “secret clear*” (“DOD” OR “department
of defense” OR homeland OR “DHS”)

16. OR
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• Will return resumes with at least one or
more of the specified words/phrases.
• Examples for erecruit:
 plan* polic* program*
procedure* record* law*
 (“HR” “H.R.” “human resource*”)
AND (assist* support* intern*)
 (“MS Office” “Microsoft Office” “M.S.
Suite” “Microsoft Office Suite”) AND NOT
“MSC”

17. AND NOT
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• Excludes specific criteria from your search
results.
• Careful not to exclude too much criteria
as it may limit your results.
• Examples for erecruit:
 (license* OR certifi* OR degree*)
 “financial compliance” (IRB OR
“Institutional Review Board”)
 refer* reference*

18. “Quotes”
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• Will return results only as they appear within
quotations, the exact phrase.
• Examples for erecruit:
 Secret Clearance OR Secret Cleared
 .net developer
 MS Office OR Office Suite
 C.S.R. OR CSR OR
Customer Service Rep*

19. (Parenthesis)
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• When using multiple operators they must be
separated and enclosed.
• Examples for erecruit:
 fluen* OR bilingual OR native* AND
Spanish OR Portuguese
 develop* OR engineer* OR architect* OR
test* AND automation AND puppet OR
ansible OR chef OR “salt stack”
 customer OR client AND service OR “CSR”

20. *Root Word*
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• Searches all possible variations of term.
Also known as and it works with
numbers too
• Examples for erecruit:
 Admin = admin(s), administrator(s),
administrate(s), administrat(ing),
administrative, administer(ing)
 “Office Supervis ” OR “Human Resourc ”
 ( 14 OR *15 OR *16 OR *17 OR current* OR
present*)

21. W/#
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• Returns resumes with terms within
specified (# of words) proximity of each
other also known as
• Examples for erecruit:
 account* ((general* OR specialist
OR manag* OR project*) AND (“A/P” OR
“A.P.” OR payable OR “pay* to”))
 (bachelor* OR “B.S.” OR BS) *18
 “call center” (*18 or *17 or *16 or
present*)

22. Where do we search?
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– Search Candidates
– Resume Search
Talent Discovery Platform
– Resume Search

23. ER Resume Searching
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• This is where
you put your boolean.
Make sure you have only
‘Search Resumes’
selected.
• based on
information in erecruit you
can adjust your results
using erecruit filters. Some
critical ones include:

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• You can adjust your
search layout to show certain
information available on the
candidate record. Some critical
ones include:
• Notice the terms from the
boolean search are highlighted in
red in the resume preview

25. WP Resume Search
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• is available
on our
.
• our basic
boolean operators work
here,
• Are
automatically sorted by
relevancy, but more
search options are
available

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• Notice the terms from the
boolean search are
highlighted in yellow in
the resume.
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27. CB Resume Search
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• Needs to be
requested by your manager.
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Works in two ways, if you
enter more than 10 words it
will use your default
boolean search.
• Divided by ‘My
Candidates’ and
‘CareerBuilder Candidates,’

28. CB Resume Search
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•
Notice the drop
down and word variations
suggested by the Talent
Discover Platform
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29. Indeed Resume Search
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• is
available on our
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All operators work on
this job board, except
W/ (NEAR) function.

30. Indeed Resume Search
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31. How to Improve?
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